Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Yoane Wissa creates a potentially critical problem for Manchester United in their chase for Bryan Mbeumo, and with a race against time now underway, Sky Sports has at least delivered a positive update for Ruben Amorim.
The Red Devils are desperate to bring the Bees forward to Old Trafford this summer and have so far seen two offers rejected for the Cameroon international. Having scored 20 goals and laid on another nine assists for Brentford, Ruben Amorim dreams of pairing him alongside Matheus Cunha as one of two No.10s in his 3-4-2-1 Manchester United line-up.
However, while securing a deal for Cunha was relatively straightforward, adding the 25-year-old Bees frontman to their squad as summer signing number three has been anything but.
Indeed, after seeing two offers rejected for Mbeumo already – the second one topping the same £62.5m fee paid for Cunha – United are now locked in talks with the Bees and contemplating a raised third bid.
A big problem for United lies in the fact that Brentford see the 22-times capped Cameroon star as a better player than Joao Pedro and Anthony Elanga, two players of a similar profile who have moved, or are at least due to, for £60m and £55m packages this summer. That makes the Bees more determined than ever to hold out for their exact price, believed to be £65m (€75m, $88m) – and with United forced to pay a bigger chunk of that cash up front and as a guaranteed payment.
And while reports on Wednesday suggested a third bid for Mbeumo was now planned amid a new deadline from Amorim, Tottenham’s counter-move for Wissa creates another, potentially critical move for United.
That’s after Ben Jacobs revealed that, while Brentford are open to the sale of Wissa, whom has been linked with a £50m move across London to reunite with Thomas Frank at Spurs, the south-west London club will not sell both players.
And as a result, it now means the two sides are effectively in a race against time to secure the signing of each of their targets first – and with the winner delivering a knockout blow to their rivals’ hopes.
Sky Sports still confident Man Utd can seal Bryan Mbeumo transfer
In revealing why it was either Wissa to Spurs or Mbeuno to United, Jacobs explained on X: ‘Spurs are weighing up a move for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa.
‘Move driven by Thomas Frank. Wissa is keen on a move.
‘Brentford don’t want to lose Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo in the same window.’
Spurs are also due to put Mohammed Kudus through a medical on Thursday after a fee worth £55m was agreed with West Ham. However, any move for Wissa can be done independently of that deal.
At the same time, Brentford’s director of football, Phil Giles, warned last month that there is a possibility that Mbeumo will remain at the Gtech Stadium if United do not match their valuation and they would have no problems retaining a figure he described as their ‘best player’.
“He had a fantastic season. We expected big interest in him, we have had big interest in him,” Giles said.
“He has his ideas about where he wants to take his career. He is well within his rights to do that.”
He added: “It is not impossible he is still a Brentford player next season if we agree he is going to stay.”
Despite that, Sky Sports insists there remains optimism at United that Mbeumo will still complete the move to Old Trafford.
And a simple post on their X account: ‘Manchester United are hoping that they will be able to secure a deal for Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo before their pre-season tour of the USA begins.’
An earlier post had also acknowledged Spurs’ interest in Wissa and how deals for both will not be permitted.
United are due to fly out to the States on July 22, ahead of games against West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton, with their first game against the Hammers in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 27.
Man Utd transfer latest: Rashford approves shock transfer; monster striker makes sacrifice
Meanwhile, a totally unexpected European side are ready to ‘detonate its second bombshell’ in the transfer market by signing Marcus Rashford – and the finer details of the proposed move have been detailed by a report.
Elsewhere, some good news could be finally coming on the new striker front with Dusan Vlahovic set to make two incredible sacrifices in order to force through a move to join Manchester United.
Rio Ferdinand, however, has got other ideas and he has demanded INEOS stage a transfer intervention to bring Victor Osimhen to Old Trafford after the Nigerian striker finally agreed to a move elsewhere.
And finally, United have made a massive bid for Aurelien Tchouameni, according to a Spanish source, as Real Madrid’s stance on selling the midfielder is revealed.